Notes from Week Three

a body of people shaped and sent by God
Session THREE :: PERSONAL Training

Reviewing our Mission
Last week we looked at what training for life in the Kingdom might look like in community. We said that when we come together what we do must be driven by the mission of the kingdom. For the purposes of simplicity we described the mission as Loving God and Loving Others. Remember when we talk about love we are not talking about feeling warmly towards that person – rather we are describing an act of the will. We are willing their good. So when we gather together we should have this mission of Loving God and Loving Others always in mind.

This week we are focusing on what training for the kingdom might mean for us personally. Think again about a symphony. A symphony has the mission of performing beautiful music. In order to perform the beautiful music the symphony must train. The training will involve times when the symphony will come together for rehearsals that will be focused on the goal of performing beautiful music. In the same way as a symphony trains with the goal in mind, we said that our corporate gatherings should be driven by our kingdom mission of Loving God and Loving Others.

Rehearsals, however, are not the only training members of the symphony will undertake. The members if they are to accomplish the goal of playing beautiful music must also train personally. This personal training will also be focused on accomplishing the goal of performing beautiful music. In the same way, if our faith communities are to become communities that are performing our mission of Loving God and Loving Others, then we also must train personally.

Many of us perhaps have mistaken the training for the mission. We have heard so often that we ought to pray and that we ought to read our Bibles (and we ought to) that we have begun to think that reading the Bible and praying are the mission. But the mission of a symphonic musician is not to play scales in private, rather the mission is to perform beautiful music. So too our mission is not Bible study for the sake of Bible study, but rather Loving God and Loving Others. Bible study is one means of training, just as practicing scales is a means of training for a musician. So when we begin to think about personal training we must have a clear vision of why we are training, and never mistake the training for the goal.


To Will the Good
Love is a word that we have become very unclear about. We say things like, “I love my new car,” and “I love chocolate cake.” What we really mean is that we ‘enjoy’ driving the new car, or that we ‘desire’ chocolate cake (i.e., we want to eat it). We run into difficulty, then, when such a word enters into our talk about God. What does it mean that God loves us, or more so, that God is love?

When the scriptures speak of love, it is always in the context of relationships, and it is always other-directed. Dallas Willard has provided a helpful description of this other-directedness by defining love as willing the good of someone else. Love, then, is both wanting the good for someone else and working for the good of someone else. It is not giving someone whatever they want. Many people want things that are harmful to them (either immediately or long-term). It would not be love for a parent to allow their child to touch the hot pan on the stove just because the child wanted to.

To will the good of someone else is to want what is good and right and best for them—even above yourself. I cannot love someone and at the same time envy their success, because I am desiring my success above theirs. I cannot love someone and at the same time ignore their need because I am more concerned with my ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ more than theirs. The other-directedness of love illuminates how much of what we call ‘love’ is mere sentiment and pretense—and that is a harsh reality to wake up to.

We believe, however, that it is possible for people to love others—to truly will the good for their enemies as well as their friends. We have seen examples of people who stand out in our minds because of their selfless concern for the good of others.

We long to see entire communities of Jesus’ disciples that are known primarily for their love rather than for their political views, apparent self-righteousness, and strange clothes. We long to see people who are sharing in God’s heart and work for the healing of the world rather than just hoping for the end of it. We long to see communities of people who are attractive, not because of their affluence or influence, but because of their consistent demonstrations of love for God and neighbor.

We believe that, although this is difficult, it is possible. We believe this is what we should expect to see among those who wear the name of Christ (John 13:35).

EXERCISE ONE: Examine challenges
A good first step for training personally for our mission is to evaluate where we need to grow. Of course we do not do this on our own. We surround ourselves with others who are living out the mission and make room for them to speak into our lives, and even more importantly the Holy Spirit leads us. Jesus assures us that the Holy Spirit is the one who will lead us into all truth. The Holy Spirit in the best sense of the word is our “Personal Trainer”. A good place to begin is by giving the Holy Spirit freedom to examine our lives and to show us where we have opportunities to better live out our mission of Loving God and Loving Others.

As an exercise, ask yourself the following question, and after some reflection write down your honest answer.

Where am I having difficulty living out God’s mission?

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Here are some suggestions to help you identify ‘trouble areas’:
1) Think through the different parts of your waking hours.
a. Where in the morning (also ask this of your midday and evening) do you have difficulty?
b. What might be a ‘trigger’ or tripping point?
2) Think through the places you go.
a. What places tend to be ‘danger zones’ for you?
b. Do you have more difficulty at home or at work/school?
c. Do you have more difficulty alone or with others?
3) Think about the people you spend time with.
a. Who do you have difficulty loving?
b. Who do you find yourself avoiding?
c. Why do you think those people are difficult to love?

Now, spend a few minutes in listening. Pray this prayer of listening: “Jesus, show me the people and places where I have difficulty loving.” Invite the Spirit to point out where and why you are having difficulty loving.


STOP TRYING. START TRAINING.
Many of us, frustrated and discouraged by a failure to love God and others, have been told (or have told ourselves) that we just need to try harder. This only creates more frustration and discouragement.

Imagine a woman who finds herself holding a violin for the first time in her life, and she is standing on a stage before hundreds of people who are waiting for her to play. It sounds like a bad dream, right? Now, can you imagine after a few notes (if you could call them notes!), someone yells out these words of encouragement, “You can do it! Just try harder!” Hopeless, right?

You don’t play the violin better by trying harder when you’re ‘on the spot’. You play the violin better by training to play the violin ‘off the spot’. This is the case with any kind of performance—including performance (not playacting, but enacting) of life in the Way of Jesus.

We do not believe it is helpful simply to urge people to ‘try harder.’ What is needed is to guide people into becoming the kind of people who easily and naturally do the things Jesus taught. The role of the Christian community, as we noted in the previous session, is to train people in the way of life Jesus taught and modeled. It is then the responsibility of the members of that community to engage in what we might call ‘personal training.’ Much of personal training will involve the practice of some form of spiritual disciplines or practices.

THE ROLE OF THE DISCIPLINES
Richard Foster, in his classic book, Celebration of Discipline, uses two metaphors to illustrate the purpose of disciplines: a field and a path.

A farmer is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. He cultivates the ground, he plants the seed, he waters the plants, and then natural forces of the earth take over and up comes the grain. This is the way it is with the Spiritual Disciplines--they are a way of sowing to the Spirit.
The spiritual disciplines are, "a means of receiving God's grace. …[They] allow us to place ourselves before God so he can transform us." He goes on to say, that the spiritual disciplines are like a narrow ridge with a sheer drop-off on either side: there is the abyss of trust in works on one side and the abyss of faith without deeds on the other.


On the ridge there is a path, the disciplines of the spiritual life. …We must always remember that the path does not produce change; it only places us where the change can occur.
The task for us, then is to cultivate our daily lives into fertile ground in which God can bring growth and change. This is what the spiritual disciplines are all about.
Dallas Willard defines a discipline as, "any activity within our power that we engage in to enable us to do what we cannot do by direct effort."
The application to the spiritual life is not too difficult to understand. If your life-as-usual has not been fertile ground in which God can bring change, then, as Dallas Willard writes, "life-as-usual must go."Your practice of spiritual disciplines will require an alteration of life-as-usual. You will approach your life with these two questions:

1) What am I currently not doing that, if I were doing, would open myself up more to God's work of grace in my life?
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2) What am I currently doing that, if eliminated, would open myself up more to God's work of grace in my life?
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Freedom of the Disciplines
Jesus came to set us free from sin and death, and to bring us freedom for God. Spiritual Disciplines can be an integral part in helping us in this walk of freedom. This is just a brief synopsis of some of the freedoms associated with specific disciplines.

Meditation Freedom from ingrained patterns of wrong thinking,

Prayer Freedom from worry and trying to do things ourselves
and the peace and freedom of relying on GOD

Fasting Freedom from those things that control us. The freedom of recognizing who truly sustains us

Silence Freedom from control of others, freedom from controlling
Solitude others. Freedom from having to justify ourselves.
Freedom for hearing GOD.

Service Freedom from always wanting to have our own way.

Secrecy Freedom from having to be noticed and recognized.
Freedom to love and value others without expecting
reciprocity.

Study Knowledge of the truth to set us free. Frees our mind to
move in specific and proper ways. Frees us to control our minds.

Confession Freedom from putting on false fronts. Freedom for r
receiving healing.

Guidance Freedom from being a lone Ranger. Freedom that comes
from hearing the voice of God through others.

Worship Freedom from idolatry. Freedom to be truly human - we
were created for worship.
Celebration Freedom from taking ourselves to seriously. Freedom from
heaviness. Freedom for enjoying the Presence of GOD.
Freedom to be ourselves before GOD and our sisters and
brothers

Exercise TWO: CENTERING PRAYER & Meditation
One discipline that is effective in bringing our focus and attention into its proper place is centering prayer. This has taken many forms throughout the history of the church, but for our exercise, we will suggest two primary means for this exercise.

The first is what we call, “Palms up. Palms down.” We begin by asking the Spirit to call our attention to the things we are holding on to which are preventing us from ‘taking hold’ of God. As we identify these things, we place our hands out, palms down—as if we were placing them into God’s hands. We then turn our hands, palms up—as if we were to receive from God. For each thing that we identify, we repeat the process.

The second, is a variation we call, “Breathe in. Breathe out.” We begin by asking the Spirit to call attention to the things we have going on within us that are preventing us from loving God and loving others (i.e., fear, anger, lust, greed, envy, etc.). We then imagine ourselves breathing those things out of our hearts as we exhale a breath. As we inhale, then, we invite God to replace those things with the fruit of his Spirit (i.e., love, joy, peace, patience, etc.).

Take a few minutes and practice one of these exercises. You may make notes of your reflections along the right margin of this page.


Now, we are ready to meditate upon the scriptures. In contrast to much of Buddhist and Hindu meditation, which seek to empty the mind of thought and desire (i.e., to disengage from the world), Christian meditation is an exercise in listening, engagement, and attention upon what God has to teach us. We seek to engage our minds with God’s revelation in order to be challenged and changed.

In our meditation exercise tonight, slowly read through a passage of scripture. As you read, ask God to guide you and direct your attention. Imagine yourself as one of the characters in the story. Think about how you would react. Think about how you would feel.

Pay attention to words or phrases that seem to echo or ‘stick’. Ask the Lord to explain why that word or phrase or action is important. Then identify what response, if any, would be appropriate for you in light of what the Spirit points out. You may make notes of your reflections along the right margin of this page.



Exercise THREE: Personal Training Plan
The place where the Spirit is leading me to grow in my ability to accomplish the goal of Loving God and Loving Others is:




One mistake we often make is to “try on the spot” to carry out the mission instead of training “off the spot.” Ask Jesus to show you how you can to “train off the spot” to better carry out your mission. Write down what the Spirit is showing you.





Now think carefully about where the Spirit is leading you to grow in your ability to carry out the mission of the Kingdom. What are some ways you can think of for training of the spot. Write them down.




Now consider sharing with others who are seeking to live out the kingdom mission, where you sense the Spirit leading you to grow in your ability to carry out the Mission. Ask them how you might train off the spot to grow in your ability to perform on the spot.